Friday, November 17, 2017

Zach Finch murder inspires safer meet-up spots

CMPD officially implemented 14 "exchange zones" at local QuikTrip gas stations today, hoping to provide safe spots for people meeting up to carry out online transactions made on websites and apps like Letgo.

Zachary Finch was killed while carrying out an online transaction in June.

Zachary Finch, 21, was murdered this summer in broad daylight while trying to sell a cellphone using the Letgo app, which connects sellers with buyers, leaving them to work out a meeting spot. Finch was killed on the afternoon of June 18 in front of an apartment complex on Farmer Street in west Charlotte. Another murder would occur on the same block during a drug deal gone wrong in October.

According to a CMPD release, two parking spots will be painted red to designate the exchange zones at the 14 locations (listed below), and those spots will be monitored by video 24 hours a day. CMPD officers will also do periodic zone checks of each location, although they will not oversee or broker transactions.

"The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department partnered with Quick Trip and coordinated exchange zones to offer community members a safer alternative while conducting online transactions," the release read. "It’s critical for community members to understand that there is always a potential threat to safety whenever unknown parties meet to conduct financial transactions, regardless of the location."

CMPD officials will meet routinely with QuikTrip representatives to evaluate the effectiveness of the exchange zones, and hope to expand the program by partnering with other private companies around the city in the future, according to the release.

Look for the red-painted parking spots at any of the following QuikTrip locations to meet for potentially safer online transactions:

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Episode 16

With his latest album, Alive Sessions, Yung Citizen was able not only to showcase his own ability as a rapper/producer, but he brought some friends along. So it's only right that he brought Modest Jon with him to the studio to talk about recording together and why it's important to shine a light on the Charlotte scene.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Vi Lyles becomes first African-American woman elected mayor of Charlotte

It's official. Braxton Winston, Larken Egleston, Matt Newton and Justin Harlow, all Democrats under the age of 40, will join Dimple Ajmera on the city council to make it one of the youngest, most progressive councils the city has seen in decades.

Braxton Winston speaks to media after his at-large victory on Tuesday night. (Photo by Ryan Pitkin)

While Ajmera has already been serving on council as a District 5 representative, she was one of four top vote getters for an at-large seat alongside Winston in last night's local elections. With 37-year-old Republican Tariq Scott Bokhari winning Kenny Smith's vacated seat in District 6, there will be six council members under 40 serving come January.

"As a group we’ll be able to collectively get more done than if just Braxton or just me or just Dimple got tossed on council," said Egleston last night from an election watch party celebrating Winston's campaign.

"We're not necessarily all going to always be of the same mindset — we certainly aren’t — but I think collectively we’re going to be looking at stuff from a generational perspective that hasn’t really been there before. So, yeah, I’m excited."

A group of about 35 people celebrated with Winston Tuesday night at VBGB, where he once bused tables. Winston ran a grassroots campaign that stemmed from his work during the Charlotte Uprising in September 2016, when his live-streams from the front lines of the protests gained him thousands of followers.

"The amount of support that I have personally received from my community over these last 14 months has really been indescribable," Winston said Tuesday night. "Every time we’ve taken a chance to step out there and be vulnerable and speak to what we see as the truth, even when it’s inconvenient, so many people are willing to carry on that conversation and continue to do that work, and that’s really humbling because so many people who are around me in this room don’t have to. But we are surrounded by people who just want to do the right thing for their city, their families and ultimately for the country."

Vi Lyles in her campaign office a week before the election.

History was also made in the mayoral election, as Democrat Vi Lyles won in a landslide against Republican Kenny Smith, making her the first African-American woman mayor elect in the city's history. The vote count never got close, and Lyles started her acceptance speech well before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, less than two hours since polls had closed.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Your hangover just got a little easier

Bojangles' plans to test a new delivery service in 10 Charlotte locations by the end of this year or early next year as a way to fight back against downward trending sales in the fast food industry, according to a recent report by Charlotte Business Journal.

The company will roll out this trial period in its hometown as a way to thank all the hungover Queen City chicken lovers who have kept the business afloat here for 40 years.

Photo by Tate Roberts.

Although Bojangles' is already being delivered by third parties such as DoorDash, UberEats and GrubHub, ordering directly from the restaurant cuts out the middleman, saving time for those more impatients folks who want that Cajun Filet biscuit sandwich (you better add cheese) delivered directly to their door.

But high college students aren’t the only ones that will be getting use out of the delivery service, as the company’s goal is to also reach workers with limited lunch breaks or folks without access to transportation, without taking away from in-store sales.

But in all honesty, if adding drive thrus to an already fast and cheap way to get food wasn’t effortless enough, Bojangles' should expect lazy, drunk, and/or stoned college students in need of their famous sweet tea and seasoned fries to be their primary delivery audience.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

New video showcases city with spoken word and stunning visuals

Ok, let's just put it out there. Charlotte's Amazon HQ2 bid is a lost cause. The city is in full-on Brad mode from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, staring out the window convinced of a reality in which Amazon is coming our way and removing their top. And now we're touching ourselves.

OK, so what? Why shouldn't our fine city go after someone that's out of its league? They have that right, and they've been exercising it with the #CLTisPrime hashtag, which is more often than not used for tongue-in-cheek references to the Queen City's more laughable history.

But today, the city truly put its cards on the table with a five-minute love letter to Amazon in the form of a YouTube video that features three Charlotte-based poets and great video shot all around the greater Charlotte area. And we can't lie: we do not hate it.

The hip, poetic angle looks to take head-on the claims of The New York Times, which published an article in early September saying that Charlotte wasn't in the running to host Amazon's second headquarters because it "ranks lower on the cultural edginess that attracts young, educated workers." Ouch.

[From left] Boris "Bluz" Rogers, Carlos Robson and Jacinda Jacobs.

For the new video, the city brought in three heavy hitters in Boris "Bluz" Rogers, CLT's guide for all things spoken word; Carlos Robson, a slam poet who also co-wrote and appeared in the amazing Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.); and Jacinda Jacobs, who we honestly didn't know as a spoken word poet but whose work we've enjoyed in all arenas, from morning radio to Hornets host.

It's doubtful the video will put Charlotte up and above frontrunners like New York City or San Francisco — or even put us on the radar — but it's a cool little depiction of our hometown, and we can always fantasize, right?

Episode 15

Whether singing or chatting, Terrence Richards is not shy around a mic. From the moment he stopped in the 'Local Vibes' studio this week, he was a chatterbox, discussing his thoughts about Charlotte neighborhoods, how his band grew between their two full-length albums and why he was inspired to recently get Amy Winehouse tatted on his arm.

As always, catch up on our old episodes with our Stitcher or iTunes pages.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Episode 14

We took a week off to bring you the Best of Charlotte issue, but we're back for a great conversation with Nic Robinson, frontman of The Business People, about his bromance with former TBP guitarist Will Schoonmaker, getting on stage with Delta Spirt and — our favorite topic on Local Vibes — the CLT music scene.

Fresh off the Bla/Alt Music Festival at Camp North End, Robinson discusses with Mark and Ryan the recent explosion of Charlotte's black indie rock scene and what it means for bands like his.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Effort to call for Shula's firing gets wings

Following Sunday's debacle of a Carolina Panthers game against the Chicago Bears, in which the Panthers failed to score a touchdown and lost to a team that only managed five first downs the entire game, Carolina fans are heated.

An image used in a GoFundMe page that aims to let everyone in Charlotte know how some fans feel about Panthers OC Mike Shula.

Ogi "David" Davidovich is one fan who has since decided to put his (and everyone else's) money where his mouth is. Two days ago, Davidovich (it's unclear if David Davidovitch is his real name) launched a GoFundMe account in an attempt to raise $1,700. That money would apparently pay for a plane to circle Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte for an hour waving a banner that calls for the firing of Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula in the lead-up to the November 5 game against the Atlanta Falcons.

While Davidovich first suggests that the banner read "Fire Mike Shula," he points out that the company he is looking into using, called AirSign, allows for 40 characters on any banner, "to get creative," as he puts it.

While it was common to see calls for Shula's firing across social media during and after Sunday's game, it appears Davidovich has a chance of actually bringing this message directly to the stadium. As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the account had raised $835, just under half of what Davidovich would need to reach his goal and he's got well over a week to do so.

Just a note to those donating money, there are some causes that could really use that dough. We're just sayin'. Good luck, though. I guess we'll all know whether this worked come Nov. 5.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Episode 13: Comin' From Where He's From

For lucky episode 13, Charlotte legend Anthony Hamilton came by the Hygge West studio to reminisce about the come up, from chorus competitions at South Mecklenburg High School to being inducted into the N.C. Music Hall of Fame and having the mayor pronounce October 19 Anthony Hamilton Day in Charlotte.